Tribeca New York Shorts: LIZA ANONYMOUS and LEYLAK
Liza Anonymous and Leylak are two of the stellar short films that premiered in the Tribeca Film Festival 2021 New York Shorts Program, the second year that the festival is including this category. The New York Shorts Program features a line-up of shorts with narratives based in New York, often with NYC based filmmaking and acting talent.
LIZA ANONYMOUS
A vibrant and heartfelt snapshot of the search for community amongst the loneliness of a big city.
“Liza’s (Danielle Beckmann) desperate search to fit in sees her get wrapped up in a tangle of lies and ill-informed emulation: As her charade crumbles, she learns that imitation is not the sincerest form of flattery, but finds solace in the most unlikely of places.”
In Liza Anonymous, the title character Liza goes to various support groups in the city putting on different disguises and personas, in an attempt to find support from a community.
Danielle Beckmann as Liza, courtesy of Liza Anonymous
I learned through a more in-depth discussion with the writer and director of the short, that for the actress/singer/filmmaker Leah Mckendrick, the writer of Liza Anonymous, this project started off as a gift for her actress friend Danielle Beckmann. The combination of fascination with the community created by support groups, and wanting to write a character to be tailored to Danielle’s acting strengths, led to the script coming to fruition.
Director Aubrey Smyth immediately said yes upon reading the script, compelled particularly by the opportunities for creative visual language. The camera revolving around Liza in the opening scene of the film highlights Smyth’s interest in exciting visual interpretations, using a circular dolly track to transition seamlessly between the support group scenes.
Standing out to me when watching the film was the vibrance of colors in each scene differentiating the support groups. Smyth explained how this is very deliberate work with color theory, using set and costume design, only using a certain amount of colors in each support group scene to make a subconscious impact on the audience's viewing and the interpretation of the characters in each scene.
The themes in Liza Anonymous may seem familiar to New Yorkers, reflecting on times being in this vast city without having that group where you feel supported, feel like you are truly yourself. The temptation to feel scattered, like you have to pretend to be someone you’re not in order to fit into the moulds of the groups around you certainly rings true for me as someone only having lived in the city a few years.
We can see in this short film how McKendrick reframes how loneliness is actually the ultimately shared experience between so many of us, when we otherwise may feel so unique in feeling isolated. Liza just really wants to put herself out there, although not necessarily doing it in the right way, it is still a hint towards the admirable boldness of trying to belong. Many of us put on different masks to try and fit in, although perhaps not as literally as Liza, it is a shared experience.
SPOILER ALERT BELOW!
In the final scene, we see Liza finally finding a group where she can be herself while also being able to play different personas: an improv troupe. Smyth notes how this scene connected to her personally, as the actors in this scene are pupils she took classes with in the city at Upright Citizens Brigade, bringing one of her own communities in NYC into the script.
LEYLAK
Winning a Special Mention Jury award, this film is particularly relevant and emotional, giving a snapshot of the tragedies of the pandemic, broken families and how we have tried to cope with so much loss especially with the devastation COVID caused to NYC.
“In present-day Queens, a Turkish gravedigger (Nadir Saribacak) is unable to face a shattering truth and risks losing the dearest connection left in his life.”
Leylak was written by Mustafa Kaymak, directed by NYC-based duo Scott Aharoni and Dennis Latos who run their internationally successful award-winning production company DUO Entertainment.
Filmed and set during the pandemic, the film opens with Turkish gravedigger Yusuf Çelik hard at work digging a field of graves, alluding to the mass deaths from COVID in the city. Yusuf struggles to come to terms with his wife’s condition in the hospital, not knowing how to explain the situation to his daughter Renk.
The visuals follow dark grays and blues reminding us of the oppressive solemness of loss surrounding the characters, only slightly brightened by the flowers Renk wants to bring for her mother. The handheld camera's unsteady motion emphasizes the precarious emotional balance of the situation, inviting us right into the family’s personal space.
The performances by Nadir Saribacak, Isabella Haddock, and Gamze Ceylan are incredibly moving with gentle poignancy that captures the essence of such great loss so many have been through on an individual level.
Cast and Crew Information Liza Anonymous:
Cast: Danielle Beckmann, Daniel Fox, Rafael Sardina, Malikha Mallette, Lida Darmian, Sharon Gallardo, Jane Geller
Director: Aubrey Smyth
Writer: Leah McKendrick
Producers: Katie Rosin, Danielle Beckmann, Aubrey Smyth, Daniel Ornitz
Director of Photography: Chloe Smolkin
Production Designer: Daniel Ornitz
Costume Designer: Keely Bembry
First AD: Catriona Rubenis-Stevens
Composer: Joanna Katcher
Editor: Samantha Smith
Sound Recordist: Vera Quispe
Makeup Artist: Gianna Gutierrez
Casting: Kristen Paladino
Publicity: Katie Rosin/Kampfire PR
Cast and Crew Information Leylak:
Cast: Nadir Saribacak, Isabella Haddock, Gamze Ceylan
Director: Scott Aharoni, Dennis Latos
Writer: Mustafa Kaymak
Cinematographer: Laura Valladao
Editor: Scott Aharoni, Dennis Latos
Composer: Ahmet Kenan Bilgiç
Executive Producer: Yvette Pineyro, Steve Biegel, Robert Pistor, Iliana Guibert, Sola Fasehun
